


Lost in Wonderland

by LillianPaige



Category: NXT, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F, F/M, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Playboy Inspired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-04-20 20:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4801934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillianPaige/pseuds/LillianPaige
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You had to have lived under a rock not to know Rabbit Hole—everyone from toddlers to senior citizens knew about the prestigious and classy erotica magazine with its very own Mr. Gatsby; otherwise known as the luckiest twenty-something-year-old in the world, Dean Ambrose. Follow Seth Rollins down the rabbit hole as he gets lost in Wonderland and tries to make his way back home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

You had to have lived under a rock not to know  _Rabbit Hole_ —everyone from toddlers to senior citizens knew about the prestigious and classy erotica magazine with its very own Mr. Gatsby; otherwise known as the luckiest twenty-something-year-old in the world, Dean Ambrose. A luxurious life surrounded by beautiful men and women; a full staff to wait on you hand and foot, to attend to your every need no matter how big or small; not to mention the mansion that was tucked away behind lush greens and an iron gate. Who wouldn't want that life?

For me, Seth Rollins, a life like that was something I could only dream of. I wasn't particularly attractive, I was average compared to some of the "bunnies," as the models are called. I was less than average, really. Although, for the modern Iowa teenager? Yeah, I guess you could say I was alright looking. If you found a big nose, thick rimmed glasses, and hair that was two different colors attractive. So how could I ever think I had a chance of getting invited to Wonderland? I have asked myself that question every day since I left.

* * *

Chapter One:  
  
Do you know what being eighteen gets you in the real world? Lung cancer. You can't do anything at eighteen expect buy your own cigarettes and the government is even trying to take away that! Sure, you can join the army and get blown up, you can vote for presidents that you don't know anything about because you barely scraped by in senior year government class and don't know enough to understand politics, but where is the fun in that? Buying porn isn't even a fun, sacred rite of passage anymore because that shit has been free on the internet and available to you for years—Plus at eighteen, jerking off just isn't as fun as it used to be.

I couldn't believe that one day I'd live to regret the words I'd uttered to my parents so many times during silly arguments; "I can't wait until I'm eighteen and I can move out!" I would shout childishly, a stamp of my foot to really set a dramatic tone on things. Oh, how foolish I had been. What a laugh they must have had behind my back. Do you know what else you can't do at eighteen? Rent an apartment; because at that point you haven't even established enough credit to get past the check and most complexes' require you to be twenty-one to even sign the lease.

So here I am walking around the streets of Los Angeles with childish anger and the fear of my parents smirking faces and their taunting I told you so's being the only thing fueling my fire. I'm barely scraping by on rent for an apartment that is not worth the price (and probably illegal for me to even have, considering how sketchy the processes was and that I'm only ever allowed to pay in cash) but at least I'm sticking it to the man and proving my parents wrong—even if it is at the expense of my meth dealing roommate stealing all my shit and eating all my food.

I always thought Los Angeles was supposed to be this beautiful place with celebrities strolling around in the latest trends, paparazzi on every corner, maybe even a few scandals happening right before my very eyes. The truth was that Los Angeles was kind of trashy, and not in the Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton sense, but trashy like in the  _'Greenpeace needs to come and protest the littering and stench of air pollution'_  sense. If had to explain Los Angeles I would say it was more of a cleaner New York with friendlier people and a lot less hobo piss pooling on the sidewalk. We are the  _other_  city that never sleeps.

That was the nearly one good thing about Los Angeles, there was always some kind of party going on. You had your typical clubbing events, your ritzier red carpet parties, and your movie premiere after parties, but those held no candle to the most exclusive, private parties at the most exclusive, private place in all of California; Wonderland.

* * *

Seth walked into the shitty, rundown apartment that he shared with his nameless, meth dealing roommate. He was instantly hit with the biggest heat wave known to man and it occurred to him (upon seeing his roommate, a few other guys, and the nice hookers who worked the corner on the end of their block, splashing around in an inflatable pool that was most definitely not made for the living room) that they had forgotten to pay the bill that afforded them sweet arctic air in the middle of the blistering summer heat.

An oversized beach ball was tossed at his head by a group of giggling scantily clad girls. Seth quickly reached up to block the ball with his forearm which caused the ball to bounce back toward the girls, just barely missing the pool. Apparently it was such tough work to get out of the pool and retrieve the ball themselves because he was instantly bombarded with coo's and whines in a desperate pleading to get the girls ball back for them.

"Check it out, Bro!" His nameless roommate called out to him from where he was dipping his toes in and out of the water with a laugh that could only be produced by drug filled amusement. "Who needs one of those Wonderland parties, eh? We got our own fuckin' bunnies right 'ere!"

A single glance made it apparent enough that those girls were far from bunny material, but closer inspection sealed their fate—or lack of.

A bunny was a glamorous girl, or boy, who looked like they stepped right off the sticky pages of  _Rabbit Hole_  magazine. They were sexy but most of all they beautiful, elegant, and classy—kind of like a Disney prince or princess.

Where female bunnies had long, flowing, blonde hair; these girls had lackluster mops of dishwater browns and copper toned highlights that Seth was sure resembled some shade of blonde at some point. Maybe not "bunny blonde" but, you know, something. The girls in Wonderland were also known for their bodacious curves and tight, taut bodies. Seth assumed that nothing on these girls had been tight or taut for a while.

"Come join us in the pool, baby." One of the girls with breast the size of full grown armadillos (a fruit analogy just seemed too cliché for this particular pair of breasts) cooed at him. She leaned half way out of the pool—water sloshing over the bent edge—and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "You look like you need to relax."

The only person who needed to relax, in Seth's personal opinion, was the touchy feeling hooker who was grabbing his ass like it was a buy one; get two free shoe sale at _Louboutin_. He stepped back to break the girls hold on him; which he admits took a lot of effort and a brief moment of struggling where he shook the girl from side to side. "I can't." He offered as the only explanation, making sure to step far out of reach once the girl's hold had been broken. "I have work." And with that he retreated to his room to start getting ready.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

My first invite to the Wonderland Mansion wasn't exactly the spectacle that most would assume considering how exclusive scoring an invitation was. Something that sounded like it should've been the highest honor was shoved haphazardly into my mailbox when I was expecting it to be delivered by a horse drawn carriage and flown up to my window by a dove, who laid it next to my sleeping form on the pillow then bestowed a little bird kiss upon my rosy cheeks.

Was a little Cinderella-ism too much to ask for in my life? This was Wonderland, home of  _Rabbit Hole_  magazine after all. I expected more than a sleazy, half-drunk guy in a cheap polyester suit coming up to me at work and asking me if I wanted to attend a Wonderland party. What was the fun in being asked? I wanted to feel exclusive, not like this was a commodity handed out to just anybody—especially not average, big nosed, glasses wearing teenagers with two different hair colors who were broke due to moving to Los Angeles from Iowa. No, I wanted to feel  _special_. I'd quickly learn that this was too much to ask from Mr. Ambrose.

* * *

"Hey Rollins, we've got a shipment in the back that I need you to put out on the table."

Seth looked up from where he was dressing the storefront window to see his boss, Baron Corbin emerging from the back. He quickly abandoned what he was doing and ran up to help relieve some of the boxes that were in the heavily tattooed man's arms. "Can I do later? Graves said I was fired if I didn't get the window done by the time we open."

"Don't listen to my idiotic boyfriend." Baron huffed as he let the rest of the heavy boxes fall to the floor with a loud thump that echoed off the tiny boutiques walls. "He's just mad that he didn't get his dick sucked last night."

Baron Corbin and Corey Graves were the owners of the clothing store where Seth worked. It was a small hole in the wall indie store that specialized in carrying local up and coming or undiscovered designers. The store was relatively new and still in the danger zone of going under at any time, so they worked on cheap commission for the time being while the rest of the money that came in went to keeping the store afloat. It was best for business, but Seth's landlord and daily living expenses didn't care about that.

Spinning on his heels, Seth gave Baron a tiny salute and went to the back to start bringing out the new shipment. He kept his eyes open for the blue labels on the side of the already open boxes. The little blue dot meant that Corey thought the clothing was hideous and he would never let it see the light of day. Those boxes were set aside for employees to go through at the end of the day and whatever they didn't pick out would go to the local thrift store. With as little money as he had, Seth couldn't afford being as picky as Corey was. Those little blue dots meant more food in his belly; he could stand to look unfashionable for something other than microwave noodles and three-day-old cold pizza.

Seth eventually found the boxes labeled 'front' and began unstacking them by three's so that they'd be easier to carry up to the display table that was located in the front of the store. Despite the shitty pay, he liked working for Corbin and Graves. Don't let the gay sex fool you; these two were a part of one of the most badass motorcycle gangs in LA—Not all of these boxes carried clothes, if ya' know what I'm saying.

Corey could be a bit of a tight ass and he liked things done a certain way, but he was kind and the first one there when you needed something. And Baron was like a father to everyone; he was gentle and loving, but when he sensed that you were on a one-way path of fucking your life up he would be the first one on your ass. There are rumors that there used to be a third person in the relationship; Roman Reigns, but if you ever brought the name up Corey's left eye would start twitching and you'd see a side of him that would make the Devil himself run and hide. Seth learned that the hard way when he once asked Corey if they could fill an order for the mystery man.

It wasn't until a few months later when he was flipping through a gossip magazine that he learned who Roman Reigns was; Dean Ambrose's' number one man. Rumor has it that Roman, Corey, and Baron all used to be regular Mansion party goers until Dean decided that he wanted Roman for himself and cut off access to the Mansion for the other two men, and when Roman kept going back, despite the fact that his other two partners were banned for life, the relationship understandably ended. The final straw was when a few of the Mansion staff showed up at their rundown apartment to collect Roman's things. It hadn't taken long for Roman to work his way up to the status of "Boyfriend Number One."

"Rollins!" Graves shouted, making Seth jump. "You better be back here because you've just built me one of the best store displays of all time. I better cum in my fuckin' jeans just from the mere sight of it, Rollins."

"Baron said he wanted the boxes brought to the front and put on the table," Seth said, biting the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't laugh at Corey's outburst. Corey could be tough to work with, but he was also highly amusing. He had a tendency to shut people out and give off asshole vibes, but if the rumors about Roman were true then Seth could totally understand why he didn't want to let anyone in.

"I don't care what he said." Corey spat, shaking his head at Seth like he couldn't believe that someone was that stupid. "Ain't nobody going to come in if we don't have a good looking store front."

"And nobody will come in if we don't have any clothes in the store, either!" Baron called from inside of the store. That was another thing about Baron, he had supersonic hearing. Corey started carrying around a tiny notebook to write mean things in since he'd been caught one too many times muttering rude sayings under his breath about his boyfriend. "Let the kid get to your jerk off display after. We have Roman's order to get to today. The fucker cleaned us out and it's going to take a while, I need all hands on deck."

After the first incident where Corey had almost made Seth cry by yelling at him for even accepting an order from Roman, Baron had stated the extremely logical fact that by being a newer business they were in no position to turn down anyone's money, especially when it came in form of $1,000 two weeks out of the month. Seth knew that it hurt Corey, but Corey was also a businessman and he knew that his boyfriend had a point. He didn't know where Corey went when they filled Roman's orders, but he figured it was best that the older man didn't help; he had heard a rumor claiming that Corey had once shit in a box of clothes that was to be sent out to Roman. Seth didn't want to admit that it sounded like something Corey would do, but it sounded like something Corey would do.

One look at Corey's face and you could tell just what he thought of Baron's 'all hands on deck' rule. He looked like he wanted to fight back, but Baron was leveling him with a look that was equally intimidating. "Rollins, get out!" Corey yelled out, his eyes never leaving Baron's.

Seth quickly gathered up what boxes he could in his arms and shuffled the rest of the boxes out with his foot. He shut the door behind him and quickly made his way to the front of the store. He knew this was going to be one of those loud, explosive fights that he had to turn up the store radio to drown them out from any customers. "I don't understand why he has to do his fucking shopping here," Corey yelled out the second the  _click_  of the lock filled the room. "It's not like it affects him anyway, he's no longer sitting on his ass at home living off of us. He's sitting on Ambrose's dick living off of  _his_  money. I don't need fuck money to keep my business open."

Baron let out a sigh and flopped down onto the couch folding his hands behind his head. "He just wants to help."

"No!" Corey yelled as he spun on his heel and pointed at his partner, "He feels guilty that he turned into a  _puttana_  and left us high and dry, while he's sitting up there on his  _culo_  sucking dick for a fancy car and a weekly clothing allowance."

"A clothing allowance that he spends on us twice a month." Baron pointed out even though he knew there was no reasoning with Corey once he started speaking in Italian.

"Oh, am I supposed to feel  _loved_ , Baron? Am I supposed to feel  _adored_? Am I supposed to think I'm  _special_? Oh  _grazie_ , Roman. I thank you for leaving us than spending your boyfriend's sex money at our store."

"He'd probably get in a lot of trouble if Dean ever found out where he spent it."

Corey scoffed, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Am I supposed to feel sad that he lives a luxurious life clouded in rules? Am I supposed to be empathic, Baron? Tell me,  _per favore_ "

"You want to go back to selling guns? Huh? Cause it's a lot more time than drugs, Sweetheart." Baron spat as he moved to sit up. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, "You want to go back to prison and become someone's bitch? Do you want to go back to piling 20 people into a two bedroom apartment just to get by? No food in our stomachs, no hot water to wash our asses? Roman fucked us over, okay, I know that. I'm not sitting here living some fantasy life and turning a blind eye but if he wants to risk his cozy, all expenses paid life in the mansion to give us $2,000 every month then I'm not going to turn it down. Shit could've gone a lot worse for us than just being barred from the Mansion, a lot worse. Dean could've really fucked our lives over big time."

Corey stayed silent for what seemed like eternity and Baron almost thought he won until the Pennsylvania native narrowed his eyes and started shooting off at him Italian, " _Oh, cazzo idiota...!"_

Baron let out a deep sigh and flopped back onto the couch as Corey continued to curse him out while pacing back and forth, his hands flying wildly. "... _E tua madre_ -"

"HEY!" Baron shouted as he shot up from the couch once again, "leave my mother out of this."

" _mammone,_ " Corey smirked as he came into a halt in front of Baron. He slinked over and forced himself in between the younger man's legs. " _mammone._ "

"Yeah?" Baron grabbed onto the back of Corey's thighs and gripped tight. He flipped the older man so that he was lying on the couch on his back. Baron hovered above him using his hips to pin his lover in place, "I'll show you a mama's boy." He attacked Corey's tattooed neck in a series of bites and kisses that soon had the man going from squealing to moaning.

A knocking on the door spoiled their fun and Corey let out a sigh as he rolled out from underneath Barron. He straightened his shirt and did up his pants before throwing the front door open with a look that could kill plastered on his face, "This better be good, Rollins!"

"Um-well-um-The person for Ro's order is here…"

" _Ro_  huh?" Corey smirked. He rolled his eyes and looked back at Baron who was still kneeling on the couch. "How fucking cute." He turned back to Seth, who was looking down at the floor. "Tell him that we're running behind and he needs to wait."

"Y-y-y-eah… I don't think that's going to fly well." Seth stammered."

"Jesus fucking- Where did you get this kid, Baron? Fucking useless." Corey shouldered Seth as he stormed out of the back and made his way to the store front, "Hey! Bunny boy! Take a fucking sea- Oh hell no. Get the fuck out of my store!"

Between the sound of Corey's tone and one quick glance at Seth, Baron muttered to himself and quickly made his way up to the front. There were few people that could make Corey's voice go like that and if it was involving Roman and his clothes there were only two people it could be. Upon reaching the front of the store Baron could see both of those people; their expensive suits and smug faces, and upon getting closer the smell of cigar smoke lingering on their clothes mixed in with the smell of expensive brandy exuding from their pores.

"Gentleman…" Baron greeted warmly, pushing Corey behind him protectively, the eldest man eventually doing the same to Seth. "Can I help you with something?"

"I understand that I have an order placed here." A deep, gravelly voice rang smoothly through the boutique. Seth watched as long, pale fingers pinched at the edge of Aviator sunglasses and pulled them down a slim nose to reveal beautiful bright blue eyes. Seth took in a sharp breath causing Corey to grip his wrist tight enough to leave a bruise. "Under Ambrose, Dean Ambrose."

"Seems pretty unlikely, doesn't it?" Baron chuckled as he tapped his fingers against Corey's hip in some way to soothe him. "Given our history…" They had an order here; of course they had an order here. They had one every first and third week of the month, but was he going to admit that to Dean and get Roman in trouble? Of course not.

"And y-your exquisite taste." Seth stammered out. He didn't know what he was trying to prove or what he thought he was going to accomplish, but you could cut the tension in the room with a plastic knife and he had never been good in awkward or tense situations. "um-uh-sir."

To say that Dean was an attractive man would be an overstatement. Dean was….well….anything but ordinary. He had thin pink lips that were framed by laugh lines that gave an eerie similarity to the jowls of a dog. Curly hair sat in a mop on top of his head that wasn't ever really just one color; brown, blonde, sometimes a light, gingery auburn. It seemed to change twenty times in a blink of an eye and it was thinning at the top, but that only seemed to work in the man's favor. He had a jawline that looked lickable and bitable but also worked against the man; the slight disproportion of the bone often made his baby face look fat. Sometimes he looked twenty, sometimes he looked forty. You had a hard time deciding if you wanted to fuck him or place a bag over his head.

When blues eyes locked onto him and thin lips curled up into a wicked smirk, Seth let out a tiny squeak and moved to bury his face between Corey's shoulder blades. He smiled as he felt a gentle tapping against his hip mimicking the same pattern that Baron was following, but his smile quickly turned into a frown when the steady thud of footsteps against the hardwood floor and the crashing sound of boxes filled his ears. He looked up to see Dean walking around tipping over boxes and swiping his arm across a table of folded up shirts with a lazy look on his face. He could feel the rumbling vibrations of Corey growling and watched as Baron's tapping turned into a harsh squeeze to keep Corey in line. Seth couldn't blame Corey; it hard to be hard to sit and watch your worst enemy destroy your lives work knowing that there was nothing you could do.

Dean walked over to the counter and ran a single finger down the top. He rubbed his pointer finger and thumb together with a grimace thrown in Corey's direction. ( _Smart_. Seth thought.  _Target the weak one with too much heart._ ) Circling the counter, Dean let his finger hook on a bottle of collgene as he walked, causing the bottle to crash and brake on the floor. He stopped in front of the register and pressed a series of buttons before the ding sounded and the cash drawer opened up.

They watched as he licked his fingertips and thumbed through the bills with a smirk then pocketed the money. Dean slammed the cash drawer shut with more force than was necessary and made his way back to the stores entrance. "I guess I must've been mistaken; there is no order for me here, sorry for the inconvenience." Dean slipped back on his sunglasses and gave a two finger salute as he walked out of the glass door, "Have a good day, boys!"

Corey let out a shaky breath as the bell above the door rang and he slumped against Baron's back with a quiet sob. Seth had seen Corey make tons of people of all shapes and sizes cry before, it was weird and unsettling to see the other side of it. Baron turned around and took the shaken man into his embrace, rubbing his back and peppering kisses against his temple. "Seth." He murmured against the man's temple, "You can go home. We'll pay you for the whole day. Just take the rest of the day of-"

"Hey, two toned!"

Seth looked over to the door to see Dean's flunky standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face; he had long spiky black hair and unforgettable nose. He seemed sleazy and dirty, but not in the charming way that his counterpart did. "Me?"

"You see anyone else walking around here with two different colors on their head?"

"What do you want, Callihan?" Corey growled out. He had pushed his little outburst down upon the return of the Wonderland crew. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

"Boss wants two toned at the Mansion this Sunday," Callihan said smirked at the couple as he ran his fat fingertips down Seth's arm. "Do you want to go to a Wonderland party, baby?"

"Get. The fuck. Out of my. Store." Corey growled out as he grabbed Seth by the wrist and pulled the boy behind him and Baron. "NOW!"

"Hit a little too close to home, Graves?" Callihan smirked as he lifted his hands up in the air and walked backward out of the shop. The bell dinged once again which, for some reason, caused Callihan to giggle. "See you at the party two toned."

The room stood quiet and still as the door slowly swung close. Each boy held their breath as they waited for the next surprise pop in and subconsciously moved closer to each other—strength in numbers and all that jazz. Only when the screeching of tires filled the store did they step away from each other.

It didn't take long for Corey to start in on him. Seth could tell that Corey had taken the fact that he got an invitation very personally and it wasn't the bulging vein throbbing in his forehead either. It might be the way that he was advancing on him, backing him into a display of shirts that went tumbling to the ground.

"If you step one foot on those mansion grounds," Corey snarled, placing his hands on either side of the boy's body and gripping the table that Seth was leaning against to trap him in place. "If you even  _think_  about going to that party; if you even entertain the idea in your mind for a single second, you're fired. Do you understand? Fired!"

Seth whimpered with a nod of his head and looked to Baron to call off his angry beast of a boyfriend, but the long haired biker just turned away, albeit reluctantly, to leave Seth to fend for himself. Seth didn't blame him, not really, not knowing what he does about Roman and the history the bikers have with Wonderland. He knows this was just Corey's strange way of showing that he loved Seth and didn't want to lose him the way he lost Roman. "I won't, I won't go." He promised, hating the way his voice shook and cracked with fear. "I wanna be here." And even though Seth knew the older men understand that his words meant more than just working in the shop, he still clarified, "I wanna be here with you."

"We want you here too" Seth let out a sigh of relief when Baron finally spoke up, he knew Corey wouldn't back off without his boyfriend forcing him to calm down. "And despite what Corey says, we can't stop you from going to the mansion. You're eighteen and you can make your own decisions, but you won't be fired-"

"Oh yes, he will be!" Corey spoke up, his hands gripping the edge of the table so tightly that Seth could see his tattooed knuckles turning stark white. Seth was worried that Corey was going to somehow break his fingers from how hard he was gripping the table and he was more than thankful when Baron forcefully pulled Corey away from him.

"No, he won't." Baron flashed Seth a reassuring smile and turned back to Corey. "We can't make this choice for him, baby, but we can tell him what we know and we can tell him about Roman. He can make the choice for himself after that and we will be supportive no matter what Seth wants to do."

Corey let out a growl and broke free from Baron's hold on his shoulder. He stalked back up to Seth, slightly less threatening than the first time, and stared him down for a few intimidating and terrifying seconds. "Fine." He said pushing Seth hard so that he was sitting on the edge of the display table. "It's story time, Kiddo."


	3. Chapter 3

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the type to admit that I'm wrong. I would rather die the most painful and violent death before uttering a single apology. Let me be frank; I do not think that I was wrong to go against my friends wishes, but I am sorry that I did not heed their warnings. Baron and Corey sharing their knowledge with me may have successfully gotten me through the first night at Wonderland, and it may have sealed me in the rabbit hole, but I firmly believe that it's also the only reason I came out alive.

* * *

Seth didn't know why his palms were sweaty or why his heart was racing. Baron had sent him back to the break room to wait while they cleaned and closed up the shop for the day. After this morning's events no one was really in the mood to actually do any work and Corey seemed too hyper-focused on making sure Seth didn't accept Dean Invitation anyway. Back to his sweaty palms, though. What was up with that? He knew Corey wouldn't actually fire him; he couldn't afford to lose any help this early in business. Baron just wanted to give him a heads up on the rules and the etiquette. He was trying to actually help Seth whereas Corey just wanted to scare him into not going.

A knock on the door made Seth jump. He took a deep breath as the handle turned, then let it out as the door pushed open and the bikers took their seats on a couch in front of Seth's chair. All was quiet for a while; no one really seemed to know what to say or where to start. Eventually, it was Baron who broke the silence. "Before we get into this—" he cleared his throat and wiped his palms on his jeans. Seth was glad that someone was just as nervous as he was. "—before we start trying to change your mind, I want to know if you want to go or not."

Was this supposed to be the easy part? What kind of question was that? If he said that he wanted to go than Corey would be so upset with him, but…"If I said that I didn't want to go I'd be lying." Seth whispered out. "But I'm not entirely sure if I want to go either."

"Seth..." Surprisingly, it was Corey who spoke up next. "We'd be shocked if you didn't want to go. We know the appeal of Wonderland; the mystic aura, the hot dudes, the naked chicks. I'm sure you're curious about what goes on behind the gates and there is no way that we can blame you. We were young once too. I understand what you mean, though. You want to go to see what it's all about, but you don't want to let us down. You're afraid of what we'll think if you go. You're afraid we'll be mad."

"Well, you didn't give him much of a reason to think otherwise." Baron muttered to himself, earning an elbow to the ribs from his lover.

Damn, he really hated how perspective Corey was sometimes. The bright side was that now he didn't have to try and put it in his own words and stumble all over himself. He could nod his head and the let the other do the talking.

"Seth…" Baron let out a sigh and it was all Seth could do to stop from smiling when Corey grabbed his partners hand to provide some kind of emotional support. Seth knew what was coming next: Roman. Did he really want to hear this? He didn't want to put the bikers through this. It was obvious that these memories were painful to bring up.

"You don't have to talk about him." Seth said shaking his head.

"We do." Of course they were going to be stubborn about this. Baron bit his lip, the action earning him a kiss on the cheek from Corey who decided to take over the conversation from his partner. Corey had always been the one to wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to Roman Reigns; it never occurred to Seth that Baron might be harboring some hurt feelings and resentment toward their ex-lover. At least not in the way that Corey did. Seth now realized that maybe Baron figured he just had to be the stronger one of their duo. It was kind of romantic, honestly. "I know that you've heard shop talk about Roman, and I know that there are plenty of rumors floating around the store about what and who he is. Rumors, as well as what I say when I'm angry, can paint a very… abstract picture of a situation." Seth watched Corey squeeze Baron's hand and guilt instantly filled his stomach. He hated that they were putting themselves through this just because he wanted to go to a stupid party.

"Roman wasn't, maybe even still isn't, a bad person. Roman is very selfish and he has always been a bit prissy, but he was never bad. Wonderland and its lifestyle are exactly the type of thing that would call out to Roman and we shouldn't have been surprised when he left us for it." When Seth didn't seem to have any reaction (shock or confusion) to Corey's use of the word 'us' he pressed on, "I can see by your lack of reaction that you're well aware of what our relationship with Roman was?" Seth nodded, there were a bunch of different rumors, but that was one thing that never changed. "Thought so. We'd been together for about three years, I think. It started off as an open relationship on Baron's end, but I always thought Roman was a pretty boy diva with a bratty attitude."

"And he was!" Baron interrupted making Corey chuckle.

"He was." Corey agreed with a nod.

"But after they got to know each other," Baron started. "There was no denying the incredible chemistry and attraction between the two of them. It wasn't something that we ever consciously decided; it just kind of happened that we found our way to each other."

Seth didn't miss the way that Corey cringed and he wondered if maybe Corey loved and cared for Roman more than he was letting on. It would make sense with how angry the tattooed man got even at the mere mention. Baron said it himself; they had incredible chemistry and attraction. Maybe Corey and Roman were the ones who held the stronger connection and Baron was the weak link?

"We ended up at Wonderland pretty much the same way you did; a random, on the spot invite from someone who just happened to see us in club one night. Even though we all got invites, I truly believe that Baron and I were never really wanted there. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this, kid. I think Ambrose knew what he wanted out of Roman from the minute that he laid eyes on him and I think that taking him from us was always the plan. He just needed to shower us with fancy parties to distract us from what he was really doing."

"Snatching Roman out from under us." Baron added, trailing off with a sigh. "We were blinded with everything we thought we wanted to the point that we didn't realize we were losing everything we needed. Seth, Wonderland will change you. Any morals you have will check themselves at the door. It's so easy to get caught up in it all."

"But it's just one party." Seth chuckled, his gaze bouncing between the two gentlemen. "This isn't going to happen from just one party."

"Who says you're only going to one party?"

"Corey is right, Seth. It won't be just one party. Not with the way Ambrose has handled this."

"What?" Seth laughed. "Guys, he's not going to Romanize me. I mean, I understand why you're telling me your history with Roman, but you're talking like history is going to repeat itself. I'm going to one party and despite whatever intentions anyone else has I'm done after that. Geez, it's like you guys think Dean has some personal vendetta against yo-"

"Maybe he doesn't," Corey growled out to cut him off. Seth flinched at the harshness of it and he instantly felt his stomach swirl with guilt. "Maybe we're treating you with kid gloves because we've seen what goes on inside and we want you to be safe!" Shit, now he's done gone and pissed off the beast. When Corey rose to his feet Seth gulped audibly and when Corey towered over him he could've sworn he almost peed his pants. "Maybe we fucking care about you, you useless fucking twink, and we don't want any bad too-"

"Okay, alright, enough." Baron pulled Corey back to sit on the couch. There were a few silent minutes while he worked on calming his lover down, but Seth just couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"I don't know what you think is going to happen to me, but I promise that I'm not going to pull a Roman. I'm just curious and I want to see what it's all about. This isn't an opportunity that everyone gets, you know? It seems-"

"Ungrateful to pass it up." Baron interrupted with a nod. "We know. It's how he gets you, how he lures you in."

"I don't understand." Seth sighed, shaking his head. "You act like he has so much power. Like, he's god or something. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do."

"Dean can."

"Dean will." Baron added after his boyfriend.

"Look," Corey scratched at his cheek with a sigh. It was clear that either the kid wasn't getting it or that they weren't explaining it right. Seth may not think that he was going to be the next Roman Reigns, and maybe he wasn't, but Corey knew that Dean didn't invite the teen because he wanted his company. He invited the teen because he had an agenda and Corey was sure it was to say 'I took someone you love before and I can do it again.' "We can't tell you what to do."

"You said that already."

"Shut up, Seth." Corey sighed. "We can't tell you what to do, but we can ask you to please, please not do this. We have a history with Dean and it's not a pretty one. Seth, he didn't know that you existed until today and I'm sorry to say it, but it's not exactly like your little stuttering act was charming and sexy. You really think he invited you for you? You really think he wanted you there? You're nobody, Seth."

"Corey!" Baron scolded, cringing when Seth stood up with a scoff.

"Oh yeah? Well if I'm such a nobody than I guess it won't matter what happens to me." Seth snatched his jacket off the hook and walked out of the break room ignoring the two men following him out. "I'm going home!"

"Seth, wait!" Baron called out. He grabbed Seth around the wrist and pulled him away from the door. This was all going horribly wrong. No one was saying the right thing, true meanings and intentions were getting lost in their inability to express themselves and it was making everything worse. "Let us at least help you. You'll have a leg up on the other first-time guest. We can teach you the ranks, rules, whatever you want to know."

"Ranks? Rules? What are you guys even talking about it's a party!" They were being ridiculous. Sure, maybe all of that politics crap existed inside of the mansion and interfered with daily mansion life, but Seth was just attending one party as a guest.

"You really think a mansion party is just a party. Corey scoffed. "You really think you can just show up and being disassociated from it all?"

"Well." Seth shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe." On second thought, "No." He let his shoulders sag with a sigh. Corey was right. How naive was he to think that this was just going to be a simple party? Seth was letting his teenage fantasies and childish whims overshadow his knowledge on the situation. Hell, Dean Ambrose himself just came to the store and vandalized it right in front of him all because one of his many boyfriends shopped there and it happened to be owned by said boyfriend's ex-boyfriends.

Seth knew he was a pawn, he wasn't stupid. He had insider knowledge on the things that went down behind mansion walls and he needed to stop thinking with his eighteen-year-old dick and start using his brain that was filled with information from those wise beyond his years.

"Okay." He said with a defeated sigh. "Teach me."

Baron nodded his head "Okay, we can do that." The biker pulled the boy into his chest and kissed the top of his head. "We just care about you, kid. Go home, order us some food, and we will finish up here then come over."

* * *

And through the years I've changed my mind on a lot of things that happened during my time in Wonderland, but my opinion one thing has remained the same: I should've listened to Corey and Baron.

* * *

Seth turned the black, laminated invitation in his hands several times. It wasn't anything fancy; it was simple card stock—Black with a glossy finish. A silver bunny head was printed at the top of the invitation with silver cursive writing underneath. The bottom corners were fretted white due to some tearing from where it had been crammed into his letter box; which posed the question on how Dean knew where he lived. He had a few ideas spanning anywhere from Dean had someone follow him home, all the way to Dean being some kind of magical psychic wizard. Both ideas seemed ridiculous.

Honestly? For something that was supposed to be such an honor Seth was expecting a little more; a hologram, or sound, or something. This just seemed so _plain_!

Seth let out a sigh and threw the invitation onto the coffee table. Was he doing the right thing? This whole thing did have a sketchy feeling too it. He knew that Ambrose was bad news, despite the playboy philanthropist that the tabloids tried to make him out to be. Seth didn't care how many charity events the guy held: a bad person is still a bad person. Maybe this was just some teenage fantasy thing and after one party he'd get it out of his system. Hell, even Corey said he understood why Seth wanted to go, so he shouldn't feel too bad about it, right? This was Corey after all and no one was more Anti-Wonderland and Rabbit Hole than he was.

Still, it was nice of them to help him navigate his first visit even though he knew that they really didn't want too. The thing about Corey and Baron was that they tried to be the bad ass, hardcore, bikers that they appeared to be on the outside, but on the inside they were the most kind and caring people Seth had ever encountered. He wrote home about them often, telling his parents about the sweet couple who helped him navigate his new life in California; Setting him up with a job, helping him with finding an apartment, offering advice to pick him up when he was down. Having Corey and Baron in his life was like having two older brothers or two really hip dads.

Seth pulled three paper plates down from the cabinet and started plating food from the several open containers of Chinese takeout onto them. There was this feeling buzzing around inside of him that he couldn't quite shake off; something that felt like guilt, excitement, and nervousness all in one. He felt guilty that he was so excited to go to the mansion and the idea of going to the mansion made him nervous.

The knock at the door came just as he was sitting the last plate on the wobbly card table that also served as a dining room table. Seth positioned the last folding lawn chair into place and then opened the door to greet his guest with what he hoped was a smile. He was feeling a little sick to his stomach now that they were here and he was sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"It's just us tonight." Seth said stepping to the side to let his guest in. "I got us takeout from that place around the corner from the shop. I hope you haven't eaten yet…" As Baron and Corey walked in Seth noticed that they'd brought a giant notepad with them and a tripod stand. Were they going to put on some kind of presentation? Well, Corey always was one for dramatics. Seth honestly couldn't say that he was all that surprised.

"Thanks." Baron smiled, sitting down at the card table and pulling his lover into his lap. Seth watched as Baron pressed the tip of his nose into the nape of Corey's neck. Seth had seen this enough times to know that Baron was overwhelmed and stressed. For some reason hiding behind the tattoo man, having the weight of his lover on his lap and the feeling of his skin sliding against the others calmed him down. Seth felt the guilt punch against his stomach again. Baron had spent so much time this afternoon making sure that he and Corey were safe and okay, but no one had once looked out for Baron.

Warmth filled his body as he watched Corey feed Baron tiny bites of food and there was a flutter in his stomach when Corey would press his lips to the top of the bigger man's head. It was such a private and intimate moment that Seth knew he should look away, but it was because the moment was so private and intimate that he just couldn't bring himself to do so.

They finished their meal in silence. Seth tried his best to keep his eyes on his plate and give the men the privacy that they needed to reassure and care for one another, but he couldn't help to steel glances here and there.

When the silence finally got to be too much Seth cleared his throat, "So... what's with the giant notepad?"

"It's for notes." Corey bit out sarcastically. "Any more brilliant questions?"

"Well..." Seth drew out, biting his lip with a shrug. "What do we need notes for?"

* * *

Seth wishes that he hadn't asked, he really wished that he hadn't. He was currently in his living room sitting crisscrossed on the floor in front of his coffee table—which was really just a slab of plywood sat on top of two cement blocks. He had a notebook open in front of him and a pencil in his hand, hovering inches away from his paper, ready to copy down whatever was written on the giant notepad in front of him.

"At any given moment Ambrose could have up to fourteen bunnies with him, seven boys and seven girls." Baron explained as Corey wrote the words 'Girlfriends' on the left side of the pad and 'Boyfriends' on the right side. He bulleted numbers 1-7 on each side then drew a line down the middle. Seth copied it in his own notebook.

"The numbers represent the rank of each individual." Baron explained. "They're not set in stone and they can change at any time."

"And they change quite often." Corey interrupted, as he capped his marked, twirling it between his fingers. "Dean likes to use them as bargaining chips, ways to get the Bunnies to fight for attention. There is always some kind of drama going on in the house."

Baron nodded in agreement, "One's have the most powers and Sevens have the least. It's pretty self-explanatory there. The One's are The Mains; They share a room with Dean, have a higher spending allowance, more freedom to do as they wish, and they're in charge of their Genders group."

"Like a Den Mother." Corey smirked.

Baron nodded, "They have the responsibility of making sure parties are put together in time, attending appearances on Dean's behalf when he can't or doesn't want to be there, and they help with photo shoots for the magazine; putting together sets, running to get outfits, they're basically the model's bitches for the day."

"But aren't they models?" Seth asked

"Main's aren't allowed in the magazines." Corey said shaking his head.

"But Roman is in the magazine…"

Corey smirked.

"I mean… So I've heard… I don't…. I'm not…" Seth coughed.

"A lot of those are old outtakes from photoshoots done when he was still second rank." Baron explained with a smirk of his own. "But the public is so stupid that they don't notice."

"Pulling hunky Roman Reigns from the magazine would cost Dean tons of money and tons of fans." Corey added, uncapping his marker to write the names _Alexa_ and _Roman_ in their rightful places.

 

"Wouldn't that make you not want to be a main?" Seth asked as he copied in names into his own notebook. "Not being able to be in the magazine? Isn't that what it is all about?"

"There is power that comes with being a One that is more important than being a model." Baron answered. "Having Dean on your side is a lot more important when you're living in the mansion. You remember what high school was like? It's twenty times worse. If you're a One, you're untouchable. Sure, people will talk, plot, scheme, but if anyone gets caught or acts on it then a Main can make your life a living hell and because they lay with the Devil whatever they do to you goes unnoticed."

"It's why it's such a powerful, covenant spot." Corey said.

"But it's always changing?"

"Yes," Baron sighed before adding, "And no. The boy's spot is, but the Girls spot never changes. Alexa will hold that spot forever. It doesn't actually have any real power, but no one needs to know that."

"Wait, why?"

Corey sighed and capped his marker before sitting down on one of the lawn chairs, "It's…. complicated and we don't really have much to go on but rumors. We've never really been able to figure out who Alexa is. Some people say she's Dean's foster sister, some people say he adopted her, some people say she's just a fan girl who was plucked from a party one night and given the world. We do know, however, that she's untouchable and she's higher than Roman in rank."

Seth face furrowed in confusion, "How can that be if the position doesn't hold any power?"

"The position doesn't hold any power." Corey explained. "Alexa does."

"So does that mean that second rank is actually the most powerful for the girls?"

"It's what they'd like to think." Corey chuckled. "But no."

"A few years ago there was a…." Baron paused, searching for the right words as he took a seat on the floor. "….Rioting amongst the girlfriends. They wanted a higher allowance, longer curfew, royalties. See, back then the first spot _was_ an actual power rank: A girl named Renee that Dean was going to marry."

"Until he discovered that she was the one leading the riots." Corey interrupted once again. "The main girlfriend used to deal with financing, limited, but she handled a good portion of money. She'd be the one to dish out the weekly allowances, budget for parties, and the works. And when Dean noticed that some lower ranked girls were coming home with rather lavish gifts, he put two and two together and realized that someone had been stealing from other budgets. She was giving the girls higher allowances if they kissed her ass and did everything she said."

"She'd get them later curfews by sneaking them through the service tunnels under the mansion and she'd also sneak boys in for them that way." Baron added. "A big no-no if you are one of Dean's personal playthings."

"So what did he do?" Seth asked. "To Renee?"

"He bumped her all the way down here to number seven." Corey chuckled as he uncapped his marker and wrote the girls name into the very last spot.

"Kicking her out of the mansion would have been too humane." Baron explained, seeing the confusion on Seth's face. "She was going to take Dean for everything he had and more. So Dean took her from fame, glory, and put her into a rank that even most wannabe bunnies don't get put in. She got a smaller room, smaller allowance, no press time, and no invitations to outings. She wanted it all and she lost everything."

"Couldn't she just leave?" Seth asked. "If that was the worst thing that could happen too her and she was so unhappy then why didn't she just leave?"

"No one ever leaves the mansion Seth…." Corey's voice had taken a grave turn and chilled Seth's entire body. "No one.

"You get kicked out or you stay and circle the drain." Baron sighed with a shrug, "those are your options. Anyway…" The man sighed as he turned back to the giant pad of paper and pointing to the number two spot. "This spot belongs to Nikki Bella and Finn Bálor."

"Finn is a golden boy and I think if it wasn't for Roman he'd already be in the number one spot." Corey said, writing down the names as he spoke. "But Dean can't stand Nicole and only keeps her around for her twin sister, Brie." He went ahead and wrote the name _Brie_ in the third spot. "That and her rack looks good in photos."

"If you want to cozy on up to anyone in your gender category it would be Finn. He's pretty and not very bright, but he has an extremely kind heart and it gets him into trouble."

"He's too trusting." Corey explained, dumbing it down for Seth.

"He'll stick up for you against Dean in an instant, even if he knows you did something wrong."

Corey nodded his head, agreeing with his boyfriend. "And Dean will go with it; even if he knows you did it, because no one hurts Finny-boo."

"Third place." Baron continued on as he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. "Brie, as you know, and Punk."

Seth quickly copied the names down into his notebook as Baron continued to talk, "Punk's place is more of a place holder. He isn't really a boyfriend per say. He and Girlfriend number five, AJ, are actually married—an exception to the rules."

"It's mostly because Dean doesn't want to have less than seven of each gender so he has friends be place holders until he can review models who've applied as girl or boy friends and then he transitions friends out and moves the models in once he's approved." Corey explained. "They still have to follow rank and rules though."

"Punk is a dick so stay clear of him." Baron warned. "Brie is sweet alone, but with her sister she causes trouble."

"In this fourth spot we have Naomi and Dolph Ziggler. There isn't really much to be said about these two, they mostly keep to themselves and don't cause trouble. Naomi and Nikki have always been traded in and out of ranks, though. It's a private thing between the two of them so don't feel like you have to choose one of the other. Let's just say Ambrose like to be fought over." Baron shrugged.

"Five is AJ lee and Randy Orton. We've already told you about AJ, but Randy is pretty harmless as well. He's retiring this year so he's just trying to leave the house in Dean's good graces—something that can get you a pretty nice life in the future."

"And for the newbies," Corey sighed as he wrote out the names _Sasha Banks_ and _Brad Maddox._ In the sixth spot. "Sasha and Brad. Newbie Models that got moved up. We don't know shit about them or this other one…" Corey trailed off as he wrote _Justin Gabriel_ in the final spot. "But their young, pretty, and hungry for money so tell them to fuck off."

"Newbies aren't the only ones that you have to look out for. You also have the Hopefuls; Models who are hoping to be moved up. Sasha, Brad, and Justin we're hopefuls when we were barred from the mansion so we have no idea who they are now…" Baron explained apologetically.

"Just look for the skankiest, money hungry looking people there and you'll find them." Corey chuckled.

"Any questions?" Baron asked, hitting his boyfriend in the arm and fixing him with a stern look.

Did he have any questions?  
Seth blinked.  
How the hell could he not!

His eyes slowly trailed from his notebook, to the pad of paper sitting on the easel, then from one tattooed man to the next. How did one little invite to a simple party turn into all this? Ranks? Drama? Backstabbing? Leverage? What the hell was the place?

"Just one. " He whispered out, suddenly unable to find his voice. He had so much information shoved into his brain in such a small amount of time that he was still trying to process it all. "Who did Roman kick out of the first spot?"

"Tyler Reks." Corey sighed out, as Baron visibly tensed.

"And what happened to him?" Seth asked, unsure that he actually wanted to know.

"He hung himself…" Baron whispered out, his gazed glued to the floor.

"Oh…"

"He survived." Corey quickly interjected, seeing the look on the young boys face.

Seth nodded, swallowing hard.

"Still want to go?" Baron chuckled darkly, his voice dripping in bitter venom.

Seth honestly didn't know.


End file.
